The Poppy Flute
by TheSuburbanSprite
Summary: 'His profile was one drawn from romantic lines, the same loving detail that had given birth to Venus' Sasuke is living in a London borough, hooked on China White he's part of the Sound drug cartel. A chance encounter leads him to local barman and student Naruto Uzumaki and their lives collide in unimaginable ways... AU, NaruSasu.
1. Chapter 1: Noscapine

Helloo my lovelies!

So, I'm in my summer break and as I said in my epilogue for No Middle Men...It's my intention to publish a new story!

This is a story focused heavily on addiction, SAD TIMES!

Please comment and follow, it makes my day xxxx

Much love! xxx

* * *

' _Not all those who wander are lost'_

–

 _J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring_

 **The Hokage Rock Inn**

It was with a certain sluggishness that Naruto watched the wiry haired Somali, lick salt off the bar nuts. He was aware that he should stop Kurama: that much salt wasn't good for a twelve-year-old cat, and Kurama's tongue wasn't good for the punters. It was the same kind of awareness that had him polishing the same pint glass for the last quarter of his shift – _utter disinterest._

"Pull your weight, lad," his dad sailed passed him, his b _arman's_ grin fixed in place.

Naruto watched Minato working the taps, talking the talk, doing the dance of a professional. But he was boring. He bored Naruto. He loved his mum and dad, but this place – the pub – these people that they served, this town…It was all boring.

"Konohamaru can cover for me," Naruto glanced at his cousin, sat at one of the tables with his headphones dangling around his throat, looking gormless and over privileged as was his speciality.

"Konohamaru isn't old enough to work the bar," Minato turned to face him looking curious, "why?"

Naruto turned his back on his dad, adjusting the taps on the Jack Daniels bottle, which seemed to leak perpetually.

"Nothing really," he shrugged evasively, "I just need to pop into uni."

Naruto said the word 'uni' under his breath, as though hoping his dad wouldn't pick up on the word. Minato made a noise of dissent through his slim nose and dropped his bar-rag pointedly.

"I see," he said tonelessly, though the sentence rang with a hundred implications.

"Dad, it's my graduation year…This is my final major project," Naruto tried, knowing his words would fall on deaf ears.

"Oh no, you swan off Naruto, leave me and your mum in the lurch," Minato fixed him with a hard stare and Naruto blew out unsteadily.

"It's not…" Naruto trailed off, there was no point trying to explain to his dad.

* * *

Later that night, Naruto was brushing his teeth in the narrow upstairs bathroom, gazing out of the crown glass window. The blownpipe and pointil marks distorted the world outside, until they looked like a wave of oil colour; all bold strokes and marks of hazy colour. Naruto watched, as he did every night, as Kurama wound sinuously along their garden fence.

Movement caught Naruto's eye. He released his toothbrush and let it hang from his mouth where it dripped a minty spume onto the porcelain tiles. He couldn't make much out from the window, but two shadows seemed to be stirring below on the backstep of the pub. Above that step a sign hung that read: 'Private Access.' That part of the pub wasn't open to the public.

"Oi, Dad?" Naruto yelled thickly, "Dad!"

Stumbling across the landing into his mum and dad's room, the décor of which had last been in vogue in 1960. His father was stretched on their double bed, which was a confection of salmon pink flannel frills. His mother, Kushina, was whisking her long red hair up into a bun, sat at her dressing table. The dusky mushroom coloured silk of her shift pooled between her raw knees.

"Knock," Minato told Naruto in a bored voice, but smiled to show him he wasn't really cross. "What's up – has Ealing been hit by rabies?" He indicated the froth dripping from Naruto's lips.

"No," Naruto shook his head, scrubbing his mouth with the back of his wrist. "Dad, someone's in the courtyard, did Konohamaru stay late to lock up or…?" He could tell from the abrupt stillness of his dad's face that this wasn't the case.

"Fucking smackheads," his father hissed, rolling towards his jacket which was cast down beside the bed. He fumbled for the pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. "There's been an influx of them targeting small bars; you know Sakumo Hatake? He owned The White Fang of The Leaf Tavern, dealers trashed the place – they're like roaches," his dad looked livid as he spoke.

"Is Sakumo okay?" Naruto queried, moving towards his parent's window and twitching the net curtains.

"He's dead," Minato told Naruto flatly, "Suicide." Naruto watched his dad shake his golden head, "I'm calling the police."

"I heard that Sakumo's son inherited the building and is moving back from Kövra to turn the place into a _cyber clothes_ shop." His mother climbed onto the bed and pressed her ear to his dad's, intruding on the call.

"I'm going down there," Naruto announced.

"Don't you dare," his mum hissed, jade eyes blazing.

"Naruto don't you…Oh hello police…"

Naruto turned his back on both parents and made his way downstairs.

* * *

The October breeze was biting: never let it be said that inner-city pollution keeps a man warm. Naruto tucked his chin into his Arsenal shirt and wished he owned a more threatening pair of slippers than his old tartan set Unlatching the back door, he stepped into the courtyard.

The courtyard was like an outdoors corridor: long and narrow. There was no grass on the floor, this was a borough of London and grass was a rarity, instead the ground was patched with sandstone slabs. Hither and thither, between the cracks in the slabs, gnarly looking dandelions erupted.

Naruto's gaze swept the courtyard until…

One person. There was just one intruder, their head bent low as they thumbed through a fan of crisp twenties. Naruto eyed the person from his vantage: they were slight, with narrow legs and bird-bones. They were dressed darkly in a hoodie and drainpipes; the uniform of the infantry of obscurity.

"Hey," Naruto spoke gruffly, trying to sound tougher than his slippers made him.

The person turned, and Naruto's voice died. He didn't know what he'd been expecting.

A face full of tattoos? Missing teeth? Popping eyes?

He hadn't been expecting this fairy-tale vision: the boy looked like a Victorian illumination of a fairy or a pixie. His profile was one drawn from romantic lines, the same loving detail that had given birth to Venus. The person's skin was snowy and set with two doe eyes, which were nebulous and reflected the constellations above in a way that made him look empty. His thin mouth was set in a hard line around a hand-rolled cigarette, and he turned his aphotic gaze to Naruto.

Naruto tried to guess the person's age and placed him in his late teens or early twenties. Maybe that was what shocked him. A smackhead the same age as Naruto.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked stupidly.

The boy pulled a face, there was an arrogance twisting his heart-shaped countenance. He drew the cigarette from between his lips and cast it down at Naruto's feet. Naruto watched the arc of sparks the butt sent up.

"Where'd the guy you were selling to go?" Naruto pressed, and the boy laughed – the sound struck Naruto. It was soft and trilling, like running your fingertips down a harp. "You need to go," Naruto sighed and the boy fixed Naruto with that cavalier stare, it said _'make me.'_ It was the saddest thing Naruto had ever seen. Somebody so young had already rejected the world and wore that rejection in this cocky, imperious mask. "The police are coming."

A glimmer stirred on the boy's face, a ray of fear. He shifted his weight onto the foot positioned behind him and Naruto nodded encouragingly.

"Go, go now," Naruto murmured.

With that, the smack-dealing pixie turned and sprinted into the night.

* * *

 **The Broadway**

"Akamaru, stop!" Naruto and Kiba raced down The Broadway as Akamaru hared after a squirrel.

"I thought you were sending him to dog school!" Naruto snapped as they careened past an ice cream pallor and showered sundaes with dog hair and gravel.

"I am – I didn't say he was doing well!" Kiba barked back, digging his heels in.

It was as they staggered down part of The Broadway populated by restaurants and cafes, that Naruto ground to a halt. He had just glimpsed a familiar someone through the window of a café called Green Banks.

He hesitated by the lamppost, watching the boy with wild dark hair, taking orders on a small yellow notepad. Though he looked harried due to the customers demanding his attention, somehow the boy still looked haughty. He watched as the boy ducked behind the counter and tied an emerald apron behind his back: smackheads could be baristas, Naruto felt like he was evolving.

"Table for one?" A girl with flaxen hair greeted Naruto the moment he pushed through the door.

"Err – nah, I'm just here to see the guy over there," Naruto nodded towards the dark-haired boy who was watching a Frappuccino blend, looking ready to drop dead of boredom.

He was surprised when the girl's face morphed into a look of horror and she shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"Oh, for God's sake, not again!" A man rose from the table closest to the door, looking furious.

Naruto saw that he had a name badge on but couldn't make out the name.

"Sasuke, get yourself over here!" There dark-hared boy – Sasuke – glanced up from the drink he was making. When his eyes fell upon Naruto, his already wintry skin drained until he was an unhealthy ashy colour.

"I can explain…" He was already saying by the time he joined them.

"I've said it before, Sasuke, I don't give a shit what you do to fund whatever you get up to, but I'm fed up of half of Ealing's smackheads turning up in the café! You've already had ten warnings!" The man fumed and Sasuke bleated desperately, trying to plead his case. "No, no more chances, you're out! Get some help kid!"

This was not the way Naruto had envisioned this conversation going. Then again, he really hadn't envisioned this conversation at all.

"Fine, fuck this shitty job," Sasuke's temper seemed to snap, and it was like watching something implicitly sweet…Snap. "I'm sick of filling mason jars with milk, it's not creative and it's not original, it just looks like every other Pintrest douche!" Sasuke slung his apron over his head and cast it down on the floor. Flipping the man the finger, he breezed out the door.

Naruto realised that he was holding his breath and glanced between the blonde girl, whose name badge said Ino, to the man, and then to the door Sasuke had just stormed out of. With an apologetic gesture to the pair, Naruto dashed after Sasuke.

"Yo, wait!" He called to the boy's back, "Wait up!"

Sasuke stopped and spun, stood in the centre of the pavement.

"At least if you'd let the police arrest me, I would've had a nice cell to sleep in, how the fuck am I supposed to pay my rent now!? I'm gonna be on the fucking streets!"

* * *

YAY! First chapter - review if you enjoyed lovelies xxx


	2. Chapter 2: Papaverine

_"It is better to be feared than loved."_

 _Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland_

 **The Hokage Rock Inn**

 _Dryness, there's a dryness in my throat._

 _Bones. People shouldn't be this aware of their own bones and the fire inside of them._

 _Hunger; starved neurons, going dead from the lack of a fix._

 _Can't stop my legs jittering._

 _I'm so broke…_

Sasuke sniffed and nibbled on the tip of his raw thumb; staring into the darkened spare room. Curtains that smelt faintly of lavender moth deterrent stirred over the old pine sill. A dusty tiffany lamp sat on the table beside the bed. Sasuke had switched that light on and off seventy times since getting into bed: if they didn't live inland, ships would probably think he was signalling them into port.

He found himself asking one of his banned questions:

 _How did I end up here?_

* * *

 **The Broadway**

"At least if you'd let the police arrest me, I would've had a nice cell to sleep in, how the fuck am I supposed to pay my rent now!? I'm gonna be on the fucking streets!" Sasuke barked, glaring at the sandy haired kid. He exuded privilege and comfort, Sasuke knew the boy didn't mean to look smug, but the guys obliviousness to his lot just made him seem ungrateful.

"Isn't that why you're selling…" The boy licked his lips, kingfisher blue eyes darting around them. He couldn't even bring himself to say the word.

Sasuke let out a harsh bark of laughter and shook his head.

"You're kidding?" The boy looked mystified at this and Sasuke pursed his lips. He didn't much feel like making a pantomime out of himself for this guy and these tourists. They were still stood on the pavement a few chain restaurants down from Green Banks. To Sasuke's left a parade of beachy parasols arranged around chrome tables. The stripy umbrellas were nothing but a waste of energy for staff, because there was barely any sun, just the weak October rays straining through vanilla clouds. A family sat at one of the tables tucking into their lunch - mum was having a salad and snapping at her daughter who was throwing her own salad to the pigeons. To Sasuke's right was The Broadway main road, which hummed with the noise of traffic. Black taxi cabs swerved BMW drivers and buses honked their horns to one another.

Sasuke inhaled deeply before taking a step closer to this stranger, who had masqueraded as a friend mere nights before, only to hunt him at his place of work and lose him his job...

"Look, you sell it to afford it, I shift Skag to pay for it," Sasuke gestured sharply with his hand to illustrate his point and the boy flinched. "I had that job to pay for the rent on my flat," he indicated Green Bank with a sour look. "No rent money, no flat; do you understand?" Sasuke iterated slowly, making to turn away.

"Wait!" Sasuke didn't wait. "Seriously – I'm gonna help you!" At this, Sasuke turned back to the boy and smirked. "If it wasn't for me just then, you wouldn't have lost your job…My Dad is gonna need some help at our family pub soon," he bit his lip, "there's a spare room, if you wanna work for your rent?"

Sasuke eyed the boy, he looked sincere and whole. _The worst_. Sasuke could read the guy like a book: mummy and daddy happily married, set to inherit the family business, average student, lots of friends that probably went on holidays to Amsterdam. Sasuke hated him. Sasuke hated how close he'd been to becoming him.

"I've got a dog," was probably the stupidest thing to come out of his mouth all day – but he was tired, and suddenly unemployed and careening towards homelessness.

"That's fine," the guy nodded, looking relieved.

"I don't know your name," Sasuke pointed out quietly.

"I know yours," the golden-haired guy assured, "Sasuke."

* * *

 **Naka Shrine Country Park**

"Do your parents know…Know that it was me?" Sasuke quizzed, trying to sound casual. He'd retrieved only three things from his old flat above a print shop: his Doberman, Taka, a photograph on a keyring, and a wrap of dope.

"That you were dealing on our doorstep? No, I omitted that part when I told them you'd be working and living with us," Naruto told him and Sasuke dropped his gaze to Taka's sleek black back.

"Right." They stopped by a plot of tulips so Taka could rub his long snout in their unctuous stems. "Tell me about yourself," Sasuke suggested, not really caring, but he could feel the silence on his skin like lice.

To get to Naruto's family pub you had to cut through the Naka Shrine Country Park. Sasuke didn't like to point out that he already knew this, when Naruto directed him, it only been a few days ago that he'd been setting up a deal with a client for Orochimaru. The park was one of the few spots in the city he actually recognised in the daylight. He often walked Taka through the place; he liked to spoil the dog, Taka was his best friend. Usually the Doberman would make a dash for the aviary and delight in spooking the peachy lovebirds. Then he would drag Sasuke through the vines of frothy pink roses, until Sasuke had more track marks from the roses than he did from shooting-up. Today though, Taka was being a good guard dog, and staying close-by to scent Naruto.

"Um, well, I'm twenty-one and I'm a fine art student…"

It was exactly as Sasuke had suspected. Naruto was a cossetted single child, from a comfortable background and fussy parents. Sasuke listening expressionlessly as Naruto told him about his gap-year spent in Peru, where he'd hiked the notorious Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with his friends Kiba and Sai. "…Sai got this little tattoo of a line that matches up with Urubamba River and Kiba just got altitude sickness," Naruto chortled. It was a free laugh, from his gut, a real person's laugh and the sound left Sasuke with a stab of envy. "I wanna travel again," Naruto said wistfully, but Sasuke detected a note of bitterness: you don't get to be bitterness in human form without inheriting super powers from it. "Have you ever travelled?" Sasuke wondered what Naruto hoped to gain from the question – what part of Sasuke's life was he fishing for information about.

"Munich, Germany…Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Florida…Zurich, Switzerland…" Sasuke strained to remember his many childhood addresses.

"No shit?" He looked at Naruto, whose eyes shone with sheer admiration.

Sasuke blinked, taken aback by Naruto's response, he had anticipated scorn or at least some kind of put-down. However, Naruto only seemed eager to quiz him on all of his old homes.

"…Yeah, well, my parents are CEO's of a hotel chain, so…" Sasuke sniffed acidly and tugged on Taka's chain.

"Wicked," Naruto breathed, making Sasuke's cheeks burn.

"That's one word for them," Sasuke muttered.

He didn't mention the heroin to Sasuke once, and Sasuke was infinitely grateful, for a moment he felt like a real person.

* * *

"Yo Mum, Dad, we're back, I bought the new guy!" Naruto called as he shouldered his way through the pub entrance.

Sasuke pretended to receive a text so that he could take a moment to absorb the front of the pub. It was a pretty, quintessential English pub: with lead paned windows, terracotta flower boxes spilling with pink and purple pansies, and picnic benches with flowerpots for ash trays. Inside was a miasma of dark rosewood and white wash, with beaded cushions thrown hither and thither.

"Why do we even pay you?" Naruto plucked a headphone out of a surly looking teenagers ear.

The kid glowered at Naruto and blew a large bubble with the piece of gum he was chewing, it popped, leaving a fruity smell in its wake.

"Because you're too busy being student of the year," the kid drawled. "Y'know your mum and my mum talk, right? I'm never going to uni, I'm just gonna chill here…"

"You say it like you've got a choice, you've gotta get grades to go to uni, Kon," Naruto quipped back and the kid made a rude hand gesture.

"Suck my…"

"Don't say it…We've got company," Naruto snapped, pointing towards Sasuke.

The teenager's eyes followed Naruto's hand, and fell upon Sasuke, looking only mildly interested.

"He's got a dog," the boys said slowly.

"How impossibly perceptive of you, Kon, you might go to uni yet," Naruto said with a snide smirk, letting himself behind the bar.

"Aunt Kushina is gonna go mental," the boy dropped his gaze to his phone, bored of them already.

"Where is my mum?" Naruto quizzed, he'd just pulled two glasses down from behind the bar and filled them each with a double helping of dark rum.

"They've gone out, the locals have put a show on so they've gone to watch it," the boy explained without looking up.

Naruto furrowed his brow but shrugged and slid the rum to Sasuke who caught it smoothly.

"Welcome home."

* * *

Naruto showed Sasuke to his new bedroom and apologised for the fusty décor. Sasuke sat on the bed and tried not to revel in the fact that it came with a bedframe: he was so used to sleeping on a mattress on the floor drenched in sweat, blood, and vomit. Sometimes it wasn't even his own mattress, but it was always on the floor.

"He's real friendly," Naruto commented, scratching Taka's chops, and Taka wined with delight.

"He's a tart and a disappointment," Sasuke grumbled and then reached over to scratch Taka's haunches fondly. "Birds of a feather, bud," he sighed.

He could feel Naruto watching him and so said,

"I got him as a guard dog after I'd been, you know, working for the cartel for a couple of years. Someone broke into my flat and it isn't like I can go to the police. So, I got me a big scary hound…Or at least I thought I did, instead I got this loved up chump…" Taka jumped up beside Sasuke, throwing his huge dog body against Sasuke's wiry frame. "Still, the sight of a Doberman is usually enough to scare off most people." Sasuke gave Taka one last scratch and grinned up at Naruto.

"I have a cat…He's a dick."

"He's a cat, what did you expect?"

"Yeah, I guess you got me there," Naruto laughed, and it was so natural and easy, Sasuke felt swept up in the normalcy of it all. "Hey, who's that?" Naruto made to pick up the keychain mounted with a photograph. Sasuke beat him to it and closed his fingers over the picture.

"Nobody," he lied tightly, "she's nobody."

Glancing down at the picture still clasped in his lap, he could see the suggestion of the small girl's inky locks. He didn't need to carry the picture around; it was burnt on his brain. He only did it, because he feared one day he might blow a hole so terrible in his brain, that he forgot her face completely.

"I tell you what, this is a lot for you – why don't you get some sleep and tomorrow I'll show you around the bar and my Xbox if you are that unbelievably lucky?" Naruto winked at him and clapped Sasuke on the shoulder.

Sasuke smiled stiffly, afraid to open his mouth. He knew the second Naruto shut that door and left him alone all he would be able to think about was how his bones groaned. How he felt feverish with the cravings, the starvation for dope.

"Night," Sasuke whispered as Naruto closed the door.

Sasuke twiched about the room. He flicked the tiffany lamp beside the bed on and off. He chased a small ball of fluff along the skirting board. He sat on the floor, whispering into his hands, promising himself he wasn't going to touch that Skag in his pocket. He got to his feet and fiddled with the old iron window latch, pushing the glass forwards until he was free to lean out of the window. He could see the labyrinth of Ealing alleys and hear the snarl of traffic. Closing his eyes he let the thick air flush down his throat and the sounds fill his ears. He had always had a bizarre love affair with the suburbs.

He could feel eyes on him, though. Not those brimming with animal compassion, not his faithful Doberman's, Taka. These eyes were flat and low resolution. Eyes locked behind the cheap plastic of a keying. And Sasuke knew then that his promises to himself were futile. He could feel the track marks he'd covered for work itching for exposure beneath his hoodie sleeves, translucent cobwebs etched into his flesh. A map of all his bad choices. And that night he loaded up a syringe and plotted a knew point on his desolate map. What would happen, he wondered, if he kept following it, kept following that high that left him so low...

* * *

I like to do 2 chapters in one hit! I hope you're enjoying this!? loves xxx


	3. Chapter 3: Thebaine

_Hellooooo! So, chapter 3!_

 _I hope you're enjoying my lovely honey bees!_

 _Please follow and review!_

 _Much love!_

 _xxx_

* * *

 _"I want you to believe...to believe in things that you cannot."_

 _Bram Stoker, Dracula._

 ** _The Hokage Rock Inn_**

Naruto pinned the Halloween lanterns to the dusty picture rail, humming Slasher theme tunes as he went. Around the pub gallery punters sipped on Morgue-a-Ritas and slugged back Bourbon and Ectoplasm shooters. The holidays were the only time of year that Naruto enjoyed living in the Hokage Rock Inn; when he could toss up decorations, modify the drinks menu accordingly, and swoop around the bar in a costume.

Jumping down from the stepping-stool, he made his way through to their back room. His mum and Sasuke sat carving pumpkins at the rattan coffee table. Sasuke had been living with them for three weeks and hadn't only proven an instant hit with the customers, but also with Naruto's mum, who fussed around Sasuke like a lost-boy.

"The hen party from Manchester out front keeps asking for the pretty lad with _the hair_ ," Naruto looked pointedly at Sasuke, who glanced up from his pumpkin looking perplexed. It was an endearing expression on his fair face.

"You need me on the bar?" Sasuke quizzed.

"No he doesn't, this is your break," Kushina told Sasuke with a fond smile, "which reminds me, on the sideboard Sasuke, Minato's put your wages in an envelope. We'll set up a direct debit soon…" But Sasuke was shaking his head, looking stricken.

"You shouldn't…" He started and Kushina's eyes sparkled.

"We're not just going to pay you in a bed, Sasuke," she chuckled and allowed Taka to lick pumpkin pulp off her fingers.

"Mum," Naruto spoke carefully, leaning on the arm of the pale velvet sofa.

This living room had looked the same for as long as he could remember. The tufted sofa in a sort of pale bluebell velvet, strewn with cushions that Kushina had hand beaded. A high-backed tartan armchair with a soft throw slung over the back, which Kurama liked to drowse on. Old flock wallpaper burried beneath a miasma of mismatched frames, from within which glossy photos of Naruto's family grinned out.

"Hmm?" His mum responded, not looking up from her pumpkin.

"I've got to go to uni, I can't work tonight," he said trying to keep his voice even.

Kushina looked up, her expression one of disappointment and she sighed heavily.

"Naruto, the Halloween parties are starting," she reminded him looking concerned.

"Yeah, I know, I'll work right up until I have to go and then I'll come back and carry on working," Naruto promised earnestly.

He watched his mother's keen eyes dissect him, searching for the lie, and when she found none she said,

"Yeah alright, Sasuke and me can cover your shift…"

"You will not." Naruto's heart sunk as he dad swept up behind him looking firm.

"Dad…" Naruto began but Minato shook his head, sending beads of sweat swinging from his golden tresses.

"Enough is enough, Naruto." He said, and his voice thrummed with a warning, "you wanna benefit from this family? Then you need to damn well contribute."

Naruto glared at his dad's back, feeling the lash of his needlessly harsh words.

"It'd only be for a few hours," Naruto argued through gritted teeth.

"Those hours have been adding up; it's a holiday weekend, behave."

His dad's dismissive attitude was like acid down Naruto's spine.

"Dad, I'm going to uni this evening," Naruto spoke firmly.

From the sunken sofa, Kushina and Sasuke watched the pair looking anxious. Naruto saw how his mother leant on Sasuke for support.

"You will damn well do as you're told!" His dad barked, blue eyes flashing as he rounded on Naruto. As they raised their voices, Taka began to pace around Sasuke looking disturbed, making huffing little barks. Sasuke quietened him by whispering something that sounded like: _'Jam sandwiches.'_

"I damn well will not," Naruto snarled back; "I have built my whole future around this place and you can't seem to appreciate that. I could've gone to Central St Martin's Art School, but no, I had to stay close to home," Naruto ranted, and his dad sighed irritably.

"CSM is for the elite, Naruto," his dad shook his head.

It was like a rock dropped into Naruto's gut.

"What, so I'm not that? I'm not good enough?" He challenged his dad who looked annoyed to have been caught answerless. "You know what, fuck you and _fuck your pub_."

* * *

 **Nue's Dimension Nightclub.**

Naruto had never been to a nightclub that didn't stink like piss. Maybe they put it in the air vents. The floors were bright and lit up, like a rolled-out Rubik's Cube, and sticky with spilt booze. Naruto could taste sweat, sex, pills, and the need to move.

"I have acquired a target," Kiba shouted over the music and Naruto frowned at him quizzically. Kiba pointed through the crowds to a girl with a crop of dark hair and nacre eyes, lingering beside the toilets.

"Good Luck," Naruto ribbed Kiba before turning to Sai and Shikamaru.

"So, if your dad is getting this pissed about one night off, what's he going to be like when you tell him about America?" Shikamaru pondered aloud.

"Shush!" Naruto hissed, fretful that his dad might morph from between the club's speakers, or the two gyrating women. "I figure we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Naruto muttered, burying himself in his drink.

"That's why you've moved that dude in, isn't it? As a replacement for when you swan off trotting around the equator? I kinda think your parents might notice the difference; I mean, chicks dig that guy and you repel them, like the human version of snot," Shikamaru mused and Naruto pulled a face at him.

He hated to admit that Shikamaru had a point. He'd conned himself into believing that he'd moved Sasuke in as a kindness. Really, he had a great deal to gain from Sasuke's tenancy.

* * *

 _Drunk._

 _Drunk always happens when you're unhappy…When you're angry…When you're lost…_

 _When your mind is spinning you drink so that the world catches up and reality becomes an unsteady hurricane. A delirious tundra._

Naruto's mouth tasted like sugar syrup and malt. He was crouched in a patch of daffodils a little way down from Nue's Dimension, groaning softly to himself. He was either going to vomit or pass out, or both. Senseless drinking, why would anybody do it?

The sound of soft footfall padding along the boulevard echoed above his piteous moaning.

"Gottya," the bemused voice made Naruto look up.

Sasuke's pitchy eyes sparkled with mirth as he appraised Naruto's position in the dirt.

"Wa?" Naruto muttered.

"Kushina deployed me – I'm on official _tearaway son_ finding duty," Sasuke grinned wolfishly and stuck his hand out. "Man, you're a state," he observed as Naruto staggered to his feet, swaying where he stood.

"Rum…The rum," Naruto mumbled, rubbing his face with a shaking hand. "How'd you find me?"

"Dealers map," Sasuke shrugged, "I know all the pubs and clubs round here, I figured after that tantrum you'd need a drink," he grinned again and Naruto blew out unsteadily.

"Dad's gonna kill me if I tip up in this state," Naruto sighed, "this is the last thing we need."

There was a pause in which he watched bulbous black taxis pullup in laybys and let out sequin clad girls.

"Not if we don't go home," Sasuke murmured, an unreadable glint in his eye.

* * *

 **Shusha-Ya BnB**

"Holy shit," Naruto crooned, diving for the double bed and scrabbling towards the pillows. All of the bedding crackled beneath him because it was stuffed with goose down. "Pillow mints!" Naruto devoured both of the pillow mints, leaving Sasuke looking disgusted.

The BnB they had checked into was charming. Hidden off Ealing's main strip, there were only four other guests. Throughout the entire establishment there were pots of fuchsias and sweet sea shells stood in as ornaments. Everything about the placed screamed that it was run by an elderly couple.

"Yeah, look, if you're gonna puke, make sure you do it in the toilet – I don't wanna pay a fine." He explained laying down beside Naruto, albeit more carefully and arranging his body against the upholstery.

"Thanks for this, man," Naruto grinned at Sasuke who shot Naruto a contemptuous look.

"I just don't want you winding Taka up anymore with all that shouting."

Naruto dropped his gave to the pale paisley linen and nodded slowly.

"I was joking," Sasuke pointed out, looking uncomfortable, "for what it's worth, and I hate to speak ill of your dad – but I think he's busting your balls where balls needn't be busted." Sasuke murmured, closing his eyes he dropped his head back onto the ochre pillow.

"Right!" Naruto exploded, startling Sasuke. "He's such a…A…Graarr!" Words failed Naruto, so he instead made a loud and furious sound.

Sasuke blinked in surprise before sniggering.

"You two will be fine, don't worry," he assured, rolling to face Naruto.

As Sasuke rolled, Naruto was hit with an overwhelming waft of the other boy's fragrance. Just as was everything with Sasuke, the smell came as a shock to Naruto. He smelt warm like vanilla, and hot sugar. He smelt like something Naruto would like to taste. In his brain-soaked state, he could picture the flavour of Sasuke's soft and sweet skin pressed to his lips. It was a desire that he'd never experienced before and he felt it scorching all over his body, the longing was in his blood and the hunger was in his skin. Surprised at himself, Naruto bit down on his bottom lip hard, fighting the strange temptation.

"So much for saving money," Sasuke mused sounding downcast.

"What were you saving for?" Naruto queried in a strained voice, not yet recovered from his yearning to devour Sasuke.

For a moment Sasuke didn't reply, he was silent as he fiddled with his phone and the BnB's charging port.

"A flat," he confessed quietly without looking at Naruto.

"Sick of living with us already?" Naruto teased, although there was an unexpected knot in his gut.

Sasuke shook his head and tucked his phone behind his head.

"It's not like that," he answered.

Naruto watched him for a moment and then asked,

"The girl in the photograph, who is she?" The rum in his system gave him the boldness to ask.

Sasuke fell silent. He fiddled with his fingers and Naruto caught a glimpse of the skin on Sasuke's wrist and the track marks there: they were truly horrible. They were like the careless erosion of something incredibly beautiful. Sasuke was quiet for so long that Naruto wondered if he'd pushed him too far…If he'd said the unspeakable…

"That girl," Sasuke said finally in a voice barely more than a whisper, "is my daughter…"

* * *

Cliffhanger! Hope you enjoyed xxx


	4. Chapter 4: Fentanyl

**Hello my lovelies!**

 **It's been lovely to hear from you, I'm glad you're enjoying this new story!**

 **This chapter is kind of a grim insighty chapterino! The next chapter I wanna do like a whole influx of more characters coming in because I like to have all the characters on the go...I'm a character swine, ha ha!**

 **Please review and follow, reading them makes me so smiley and giddy!**

 **much love!**

 **xxx**

* * *

 _'Am I the only one I know_  
 _Waging my wars behind my face and above my throat_  
 _Shadows will scream that I'm alone.'_

 _21 Pilots, Migraine._

 **Otogakure Condo**

Sasuke stood motionless on the doorstep of the largest Otogakure condo. All the houses on this strip were oversized and ill-gotten. Neoclassical homes, with colonnade walkways and tall porches. Orochimaru's home was the biggest; hidden behind an assembly of palm trees and paved with Crema marfil marble tile. Orochimaru called the elaborate plot his own corner of Miami right there in the borough of London.

Sasuke pressed on the chrome buzzer and waited for an answer.

"Who is it?" A woman answered sounding frosty.

"It's me, Karin," Sasuke spoke close to the intercom.

"Oh," he could hear the sneer in Karin's voice, "the prodigal one returns."

"Can I come in, please?" Sasuke was rapidly losing his patience.

"Last I heard you'd moved out of your bedsit and got your fine self-sacked," Karin teased, "that was stupid, wasn't it?"

Sasuke aimed a kick at the door. He heard Orochimaru's dogs rouse on the other side and muffled barking start up.

"Let me in or I'll break a window," Sasuke threatened.

"Urgh, keep your hair on, Sasuke," Karin muttered and hung-up.

The door buzzed and the latch holding it shut clicked. With a shuddering breath, Sasuke stepped into Orochimaru's lair.

* * *

Orochimaru's home was like a cake – in the way that it was an affair made up of layers. The bottom floor was where he impressed people. Things were left out on display deliberately, which Sasuke thought was an infinitely stupid move given the amount of drug addled waifs and strays that crossed this building's threshold. Paintings in gold enamelled frames swooped from ceiling to floor. Colourful glass bowls held nothing in particular but still managed to look important and necessary. There was an abundance of clocks: carriage, grandfather, and wall, all looked worth their weight in Smack.

The second floor was where Orochimaru actually lived. Sasuke didn't know much about that level, he'd only ever used a bathroom on that floor once. The bathroom he'd passed out in for ten minutes had been the nicest bathroom he'd ever had the privilege of laying face down in his own puke in.

The top floor, the third floor, was where all the black magic happened. That was where Orochimaru ran his cartel from. The third level of the condo was a dusty, dimly lit labyrinth. A main room with a sofa which Orochimaru always sat on, and around that were crates packed with China White. There were no windows or lights, just the glow coming from the embers of crack pipes and lighters toasting spoonful's of Skag. Apart from the main room there were other empty rooms. These were the rooms Sasuke was most familiar with. They were the rooms where the cheap carpet curled up around the skirting board; crisp with months of a stranger's vomit. The walls and floor were sprayed with blood, shit, sweat, spit, and God knows what else. These were the cupboards Orochimaru's minions locked themselves away in, took their worst selves with them to shoot-up.

Sasuke inched into the main room for the first time in a month. It was unchanged. Orochimaru sat on the shredded leather sofa, his infant son Mitsuki curled beside him. Every time Sasuke saw Mitsuki his eyes seared, and he felt a stab of hatred towards Orochimaru. _There was a kid destined to stumble across a needle one of his dad's workers had left out._

Orochimaru was deep in conversation with Jugo, the brick-built red head who usually stacked their crates. Jugo was nodding along with Orochimaru looking drawn and sick, Sasuke wondered when Jugo had last opened a vein.

"Sasuke!" Mitsuki interrupted his father's conversation when he caught sight of Sasuke.

Dropping off the sofa the six-year-old scurried towards Sasuke, his face bright. Sasuke caught Mitsuki and gave him a squeeze, trying to pretend that he didn't feel Orochimaru's eyes boring into him.

"Hey dude," Sasuke smiled, "why aren't you in school?" He wondered when anybody had last bothered to wash Mitsuki's clothes, they smelt damp and musty.

"Nobody could take me, so Dad gave me the day off," Mitsuki beamed and though Sasuke returned the grin, he felt a twist of anger in his gut. What that really meant, was that nobody in the entire condo had thought to remain sober in time to take Mitsuki to school.

"Jugo take Mitsuki downstairs," Orochimaru ordered and Jugo looked taken aback.

"I'm not a babysitter," Jugo pointed out uncomfortably.

"You're whatever I pay you to be," Orochimaru reminded his milky hazel eyes burning in their sunken sockets. The moment made Sasuke squirm, because the sentiment was absolutely true, whatever Orochimaru wanted them to be… _They were._ If he told them to jump, they asked how high. If he asked them to hurt someone, they asked how badly. If he wanted anything, they provided. He had their souls trembling on the tip of a needle. They were the addicted and he was their enabler. He was king.

Sasuke watched soundlessly as Jugo left with Mitsuki in toe.

"Sit down, Sasuke," Orochimaru indicated a crate positioned in front of him.

Sitting on the wooden box felt like sitting on dynamite, because Sasuke knew that encased beneath his body were kilos upon kilos of heroin.

"You need to get Mitsuki to school," Sasuke murmured, not looking at Orochimaru, "otherwise the feds will come sniffing."

Orochimaru considered Sasuke and Sasuke quailed beneath his acid gaze. Orochimaru had never looked human to Sasuke, even when Sasuke was just sixteen and new to London, hooked on Xanax. He had tendrils of oily hair which he wore loose to his waist, and he donned a number of silken cream robes over crisp shirts. Sasuke always thought he dressed like a very rich man that had already retired.

Orochimaru held out a carton of imported cigarettes and permitted Sasuke to take one. It had been like this since Sasuke was sixteen – he would give him a little something, and then take a lot back. When he'd been sixteen though, Orochimaru hadn't given him cigarettes, Sasuke still remembered with a bitter taste being bought sweets and fizzy drinks. He'd felt like a prince at the hostel he was living in.

"I needn't ask what brings you back here," Orochimaru purred, the sallow skin stretched on his vicious Adam's-apple when he spoke. "So how are you going to pay me, Sasuke?" He smirked tauntingly as he lit his cigarette and placed it between his lips.

Sasuke tried not to show how uneasy the man made him. When he fumbled with his lighter, he held his hands low down to disguise the tremor in his wrist.

"I'll sell whatever you need me to," he mumbled without looking up.

"I know you will," Orochimaru whispered and Sasuke shuddered. "Lucky for you've I've just had a shipment of Fentanyl brought over from the States. They come in these handy patches, so the working-addict can slap one of before their shift, very practical." Orochimaru explained convivially and Sasuke nodded along.

"How dangerous are they?" You never shook the guilt of selling poison.

"As dangerous as the hands they fall into," Orochimaru retorted, ever the cryptic.

 _Lies. The lies of the heartless._ Without the right direction and information, all hands were dangerous when filled with a substance.

"Sure, I'll shift it." Sasuke had lost all respect for himself years ago and had fallen out of love with himself before that. There was very little left to hate.

"Good," Orochimaru nodded briskly, suddenly all business. "You can have enough Brown to tide you over now – and then shall we call it a wrap for every ten tabs you shift?" Orochimaru's eyes lingered on him. Sasuke remained tight lipped, it sounded like he was getting a pay cut. "I need my minions faithful, Sasuke, you haven't shown me much faith this past month, where have you even been?" The mocking smile that wrenched at Orochimaru's thin lips made Sasuke feel ill.

"Family," Sasuke shrugged stiffly.

" _No, no, no_ ," Orochimaru laughed softly, "you don't have a family Sasuke…Otherwise you wouldn't be here."

Sasuke opened his mouth to argue but closed it. Figuratively, Orochimaru was right; _he had no family._

"But, you're one of my top guys," Orochimaru held his hands up, grinning viperously. "Let's call it two wraps per nine tabs sold…You'll be no good to me if you can't get yourself up in the morning."

* * *

He was back, back in one of Orochimaru's top-floor backrooms. The aroma was sour. He could smell where the bodily rot of many addicts had taken its toll on the small space. By his lighter's flame he could see the blood on the walls and the used needles swept into the corners like dead pine leaves. Years of human decay were immortalised in these floorboards and this mortar.

Sasuke tapped his arm a few times, blew out shakily and fought not to cry. He whispered an apology then, to who he wasn't sure, maybe himself, maybe his family, maybe Naruto, maybe his daughter…Then, he opened a vein and red went amber.

* * *

 **The Hokage Rock Inn**

Sasuke let himself in the back way, scuffing his feet on the tatty doormat. Kurama, Naruto's arrogant ginger cat mewled and slunk from around a fat plant pot, growing wild with aloe-vera. On his way into the house, Sasuke glimpsed that Minato and Kushina were working the bar; they sparked off one another with an enviable chemistry.

"Hey, Taka," Sasuke greeted breathily, patting the dog's head with abysmal coordination.

"You're back then." Sasuke straightened and turned.

Naruto stood the kitchen, propping his back again the marble countertop. Sasuke watched as Naruto spooned a cup ramen into his mouth, crossing his legs pointedly.

"Yeah…I just…Just…"

It was weird. Sasuke didn't feel the rush of the high anymore. It just served to make him feel fit for purpose, made him feel like the blood wasn't clogging in his brain and hot puss hadn't just tipped into his lower intestine. However, this didn't seem to shine through. When he got high he felt the most fully functioning that he ever did – but he couldn't physically function.

"You just thought you'd carry on avoiding me?" Naruto raised his blonde eyebrows.

The honest answer to this was: yes.

The one Sasuke gave was,

"I'm thirsty, did you steal my grape soda?"

He made his way to the fridge, Kushina had left a note for him tacked to the door with a cutesy cat magnet. It read:

Sasuke – left lasagne in the oven, eat it before Minato sees this, K x

When he took the note down, his gut did a weird throbby thing that had nothing to do with the drugs coursing through his system.

"You haven't spoken to me properly since the night as Shusha-Ya's, do you regret telling me about your daughter or something?" Naruto continued sharply and Sasuke winced.

"Yes, I wouldn't have told you if I'd know you'd harp on this much about it." Sasuke yanked on the fridge door and ducked behind it.

"You told me you've got a daughter, that's a pretty fucking enormous deal, Sasuke!" Naruto snapped and Sasuke made an irritable sound.

"My mouth is so dry – I'm so thirsty, did you drink my fucking grape soda!?" Sasuke searched the fridge furiously.

"Yes, I drank your stupid special soda!" Naruto exploded and Sasuke made a livid sound. "Where are you going?" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shoulder.

"To get a new fucking drink, given that some prick drank mine," Sasuke snapped back as he tried to shake Naruto off.

"What's up with your face?" Naruto snatched at Sasuke's chin; his fingers felt cold on Sasuke's hot jaw. "Mate, your face is all red…" Sasuke tried to twist away from Naruto, aware that what he was seeing was the flush of heroin disturbing his heart rate. "Your eyes, they're like a rat's…"

"Oh, what is this?" Sasuke fought to free himself, "what big teeth you have, Sasuke?"

"Are you high? Are you _still_ using?" Naruto's voice was raw with furious incredulity.

Sasuke gaped at Naruto in astonishment, and then slapped the boy's hand away with a piercing laugh.

" _Still_ – when do you think I stopped!?" They stood staring at one another. "In fact, who do you think you are – _who are you?_ Some stranger that bulldozed into my life and lost me my job. What do you think I am, some pity project for you to fix?" Sasuke shook his head, his throat seared, and his eyes felt hot and wet. "You bitch on about wanting to travel, but you're so consumed by your own privilege, you can't even see the world beyond your own doorstep… _The pain, the ugliness, the bad_ …You don't know any of it!" Sasuke ranted and he heard Taka skitter into the kitchen, summoned by the sound of their disagreement. "You don't know the difference between living and surviving," Sasuke whispered, hanging his face close to Naruto's.

Naruto looked astonished, and Sasuke wondered what he would do. Would he hit him? Would he turn him out on the streets?

Instead, Naruto moved forwards and enveloped Sasuke in an embrace. Sasuke stood pressed rigidly against Naruto's body, feeling the warm contours of his soft body melding with Sasuke's brittle form. He smelt like cinnamon, rose, and sweet mimosas. He felt smooth and safe, somehow gentle and unbearably strong all at once. The hold made Sasuke's parched throat ache and he clenched his fists at his sides, before slowly raising his arms and returning the embrace.

"I'm sorry," Naruto breathed, sending gooseflesh racing down Sasuke's neck. "I'm so sorry for whatever happened to you."

It kind of hurt, because Naruto had no reason to apologise and Sasuke had never understood just how much he'd wanted an apology from the world. Hearing it loosened something inside of him though.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke replied in a whisper, his breath pooling on Naruto's tanned throat, "for calling you a stranger. That was a lie."

Sasuke had once believed that he couldn't learn to loathe himself any more than he already did. However, the batch of Fentanyl ready for sale in his pockets hung heavy on his conscience as he clung to Naruto's skin. Sometimes, he wished that he was an entirely different person that had found his way to the people in his life without the complications that followed Sasuke Uchiha. Other times he got high…

* * *

SAAAAAD and DRAMATIC! Please review and follow honeys xxx


	5. Chapter 5: Diamorphine

Helloooo sweets!

Chapter 6 Ooooooooo!

Hope you're enjoying!

Please review and follow!

Much love xxx

* * *

 _'There's a fine line_  
 _Between love and hate.'_

 _Breaking Benjamin, The Diary of Jane._

 ** _Naka Shrine Country Park._**

Naruto sat cross legged on one of Naka Shrine's banana benches, pretending to read his textbook. The late November clouds had parted and blessed Ealing with a whisper of watery sunshine. Taka and Akamaru played like puppies, thrashing around The Cenotaph which stood in an ornamental pond. Naruto squinted up into the eyes of the bronze angel mounted on the stone plinth, she looked fierce and vengeful.

"Here, stay hydrated," Temari appeared proffering a beverage the same lurid pink as Pepto-Bismol.

The great thing about December crawling closer, was that friends started returning home from their universities for the holidays. Temari had come back all the way from Glasgow, Choji from Cardiff, and Shino from an exchange in The Netherlands.

"Thanks," Naruto took the drink and watched as Temari took the seat beside him, her thorny halo scraped back in a frantic bun. "How's life?" He asked her, observing as her eyes followed Kiba and Sasuke, who were both sprinting after their tearaway dogs.

"The truth?" Temari asked in a brittle tone without looking up.

"Always," Naruto replied firmly.

"I come home and find out Gaara got a diagnosis," Temari dropped her gaze to her hands, spread on her knees, her small fingernails were painted an ashy purple. "So, if you wade through all the white coat jargon he's got systemic lupus erythematosus. Which sounds pretty shit, and it is, because if you do a bit more wading…" She took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders, "damn boy needs a kidney." She confessed quietly, sounding bitter. "His immune system is attacking one of his, it doesn't recognise it – thinks it's a threat – I mean, what shade of fucked up is that?" She looked incredulous, but she didn't look teary. That was the great thing about Temari, there was never the threat of tears. She just grew angrier.

"Man, that's…" Naruto screwed up his face as he tried to conjure the right words.

"A bag of dicks, the world has dealt my family yet another bag of dicks…Yeah, I know." Temari sighed and then forced a strained smile. "What about you, how's your life bubbling over?"

"Oh, that…" Naruto turned and eyed Sasuke thoughtfully.

Ever since Sasuke's untidy arrival into his life, Naruto felt like he was two different people sharing a very tight skin. One version of him, a thin and colourless version, continued to think and act as he always had: university, friends, pub, sex. The second part of him, a fragment he was having difficulty stifling, seemed to be made from alexandrite; dark and seductively sparkly. It was the part of him that operated on desire and somatic yearning. He found himself swept up in fast thoughts that involved a lot of him, and a lot of Sasuke, and a lot of both of their skin.

There were secrets and complications though. The least of which, perhaps, was Sasuke's nameless and apparently absent daughter. There were drugs, and emotions, and addresses, and families, and confused sexualities to consider. Sometimes, wanting something -or someone – with every piece of your soul, just wasn't enough.

"Yep, same old."

* * *

"You've got mayonnaise…" Naruto pointed to Sasuke's shell pink lips.

Sasuke's brows drew together and he raised his thin fingers, feeling the air around his mouth as though trying to sense the sauce.

"Nope," Naruto laughed when he missed, "nope again," he watched as Sasuke swiped at his mouth, his pretty face taught with frustration.

They had all come together to eat in the sun – though you couldn't really call it a picnic, more: ground-based-confectionary-chaos. Sasuke and Naruto had split a wrap between them, Sasuke's fussing about fillings nearly drove Naruto to distraction: _the guy would happily drive chemicals cut with battery acid into his heart, but a duck and hoisin wrap might just poison him._ Temari gnawed on prawn cocktail crisps, which Kiba helped himself to every now and then. Choji gorged on two packs of Jaffa Cakes, a bag of cheese puffs, and a litre of Coke. Whilst Shino baffled them all by spooling strands of liquorice into his mouth. They sat on a mound of grass between three large flowerbeds, bright with primroses, electric delphinium, frothy peonies, and cosmos buzzing with honey bees. The sun was kept off their necks by a pergola, the slats of which were braided with thick-bodied wisteria.

 _"_ Man, this shit reminds me of college, back in the day," Kiba sighed looking content.

"You mean when you were spending your life skipping seminars and barely passing your modules – my God, I think I'm having déjà vu," Temari smirked and they all laughed.

 _"_ Nah, you know, when life was sweet and simple," Kiba explained and Temari shook her head with a fond grin.

"Kiba, you let me know when your life stops being sweet and simple," she said and then looked to where Sasuke and Naruto sat. "Where did you go to college, Sasuke?"

Naruto watched as Sasuke's lips parted, everything he did with his mouth was always a whole scene, it was just such an interesting and _enticing_ mouth. Sasuke floundered for a moment, looking awkward as he seemingly tried to draw words from the stratosphere.

"Uh…I didn't go," Sasuke confessed with a shrug.

 _"_ D'you do an apprenticeship or summit?" Kiba pressed and though it was a standard question, Naruto felt an overshadow of annoyance on Sasuke's behalf that their friends wouldn't let the matter lie.

"No," Sasuke seemed unphased, "I moved from Kilkenny to London when I was sixteen, I didn't really have a fixed address," the smile on Sasuke's lips when he said this was both playful and shy, but the sentiment was heart-breaking.

"Like, homeless?" Choji gawped at Sasuke who rolled his shoulders.

"Kinda yes, kinda no," was all he said, taking a tactical bite of his wrap so he could contribute no more.

At that moment, Kiba's phone buzzed and he lunged for it.

"Play it cool Kiba, don't wanna come across too keen," Temari commented tonelessly.

"Is this the girl you met in Nue's?" Naruto quizzed, watching as Kiba fawned over the message on his phone.

 _"Hinata,"_ Kiba said her name like it was a spell.

"Blurgh," Temari feigned sickness earning her a look of scorn from Kiba.

His expression cleared however, and he gave a little wave to somebody behind them.

"On the subject of love-lives, Temari, look who it is."

They all turned to see Sai, Neji, and Shikamaru heading across the green towards them. Temari's face went smooth and cold when her eyes found Shikamaru. There was a history there.

"I'd rather choke on my own tongue, thanks," Temari muttered, getting to her feet jerkily just as the three boys came to a stop beside their party.

"Tem…" Shikamaru began, but Temari shot him a stony look which quelled the rest of his speech.

They watched as she gathered her things and stalked away. Naruto glanced towards Shikamaru, he didn't look upset or angry, he just looked lost, and somehow that was infinitely worse…

* * *

 **Hokage Rock Inn**

"That was an atmosphere you could get a rash from," Sasuke laughed as they let themselves back into the pub.

The pleasant weather had finally passed and given way to the December showers.

"Shikamaru and Temari have got previous…They were together, but I dunno, something happened, and they just went to war. It's goddamn sad because they were best mates when they were kids and then got together in school," Naruto explained as he shook his hair out.

"That is sad," Sasuke acknowledged. "That other dude, with the long hair, I've never been introduced to him," Sasuke's voice was one that was trying to sound casual.

"What, Neji?" Naruto paused by the bar to look at Sasuke.

"Is that his name?" He looked ponderous, "is he a bit of a trouble maker?"

"What, no!" Naruto erupted with laughter, "Neji's dad is a D.I. He's always doing press interviews on the news, Detective Inspector Hyuga." Naruto shook his head and Sasuke looked confused. "Why?"

"I just…I just think that he was turfed out of Green Banks whilst I was working there, y'know, for disorderliness," Sasuke shrugged, but he continued to look perplexed.

"Right, well you've got the wrong go…Neji's so straight edge he makes rulers weep." Naruto grinned and then caught sight of Konohamaru. "That better not be a bottle of gin up your shirt, Kon," he warned his cousin who looked mulish.

"You'd nick booze too if you were on minimum wage," he complained looking hard done by.

"Kon, you don't do any work, you've only got this job so your mum knows where you are – it's a glorified creche." Naruto pointed out and Konohamaru looked scorned.

"Here," Sasuke pulled up a barstool and withdrew something from his pocket. "Sour skittles – I told you I knew the news agents that still sold them around here," he smiled and Konohamaru's face lit up. "First put the gin back, before anyone gets told off," Sasuke's tone was light but for the first time Naruto could hear the echo of the parent he might have been.

* * *

"Wanna order a take out?" Naruto quizzed.

They were both folded on the sofa, their knees pressed against one another's as they slugged back beers.

"I haven't got any cash," Sasuke admitted and Naruto shrugged.

"I'll get this one."

"Since when did you get so benevolent?" Sasuke quizzed, accepting the takeaway menu.

"It's my art show at the end of December, I have no one to take, I've reached a state of wholesome misery," Naruto confessed and Sasuke snorted, laying the menu on his chest.

"You don't have a date for your show?"

"Nope, I am dateless. Even Kiba has a date, the shame," Naruto groaned and dropped his head back.

"Is there free booze?" Sasuke quizzed.

"Only an abundance of the cheapest wine university has to offer," Naruto winked, "and there's potential for some very sweaty canopies."

"Take me, I'll be your date," Sasuke grinned and when Naruto craned his neck he saw that Sasuke's eyes were burning with a carnal kind of mischief. The look made Naruto swallow.

"I could," he nodded, trying not to sound as flustered as he felt.

"So do," Sasuke laughed.

 _Was this flirting? It felt like they were flirting…_

 _Was this wrong?_

"I guess I will," Naruto smirked, feeling his heart fast in his throat.

"My favourite flowers are lilies, I want a bunch," Sasuke pointed at him with a raised eyebrow and Naruto laughed, scooping up his phone.

"You'll look like a funeral goer…I'm just gonna email the uni, let them know I need another ticket."

When Naruto logged into his unimail he was shocked to find that he already had an email. From the Kirigakure Project in Kentucky.

 ** _Dear Mr Uzumaki,_**

 ** _We are delighted to inform you that your application to work on our project has been successful. Your application was for a yearlong visa._**

 ** _We hope to hear from you soon,_**

 ** _Mei Terumī._**

"Everything okay?" Sasuke looked concerned and Naruto started.

"Oh…Oh, yeah…Everything's just..Just fine…"

* * *

Oooooh so many secreeeeeeets! x


	6. Chapter 6: Diacetylmorphine

**Ooooooh, Chapter 6...**

 **I hope you guys are enjoying this, I'm enjoying writing it ^-^**

 **Much love my honeys! xxx**

* * *

 _'I know_

 _Where you stand_  
 _Silent_  
 _In the trees_  
 _And that's_  
 _Where I am_  
 _Silent_  
 _In the trees.'_

 _21 Pilots, Trees._

 **Team 7 Outlet**

Temari smoothed her hair and the stripy pencil skirt which she'd fished out of the chest of her mother's belongings. Whilst looking for an outfit to wear to her job interview, she had also come across a bottle of her mother's perfume: _Portrait Of A Lady_. There was barely a dreg left sliding around the bottom of the small glass barrel, but Temari had still taken it and gushed the fragrance all over her neck. To another nose she smelt like rose syrup. But every time Temari caught a whiff of her own pulse, she smelt the memories of her mother.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she squared her shoulders and faced the shop front. It was the strangest decoration of a clothes shop Temari had ever seen. The shop itself was arch-shaped and built into a flint underpass. On either side of the shop's yawning entryway stood prop robots, wearing suits of sparkling armour, clasping fans of glowsticks which turned pale in the daylight. The shop's name was Team 7 and had only recently opened.

"Here goes," Temari whispered, making her way towards the weird hellmouth.

* * *

Inside of the shop was loud and that was the best word to describe it. Loud colours, loud architecture, loud trance music blasting out over speakers nailed to the walls. Temari eyed the clothes on sale and winced: lurid, fuzzy leg warmers, flashing whistles, and neon t-shirts. All rave merch. She felt suddenly very dowdy dressed in her mother's pencil skirt and a silk blouse.

"Can I help you?" She started when a man drifted towards her through all of the noise and the lights.

"I have a job interview!" She shouted.

The man's face was unreadable, this was predominantly because of the mask he wore that concealed the lower half of his face. Temari saw that there was a rack of these 'Psytrance Mystery Masks' on sale in the shop.

"Can you read?" He asked and Temari scowled, affronted.

"Obviously."

"Count?"

"Yes!"

"You on drugs?"

"No, I am not!" She barked with her hands on her hips.

"Then you've got the job, congrats, I'm your boss Kakashi Hatake. Your uniform's out back, along with your lazy ass colleague." She assumed by the way Kakashi's eyes crinkled around the edges, he must've been smiling.

"Oh," she floundered, "that was the rudest job interview I've ever had!"

"Buckle up." Kakashi chuckled.

* * *

The back room was blissfully peaceful. Stacked untidily with wares to go out onto the shop floor. The closer Temari looked, the more she saw, here and there were things like beer mats, pint glasses, and liquor bottles. It looked like this place had once been a bar.

A gush of cold air upon which rode the stench of cigarette smoke, blew in through the back door as someone let themselves in: this must be her co-worker.

"Hi, morning, my name's…"

"Temari?"

A sourness was spreading through her, like the blood in her veins had curdled and spoiled. Shikamaru Nara stood staring at her in apparent amazement, his thin face slack, a dark uniform hanging off his lean frame.

"This is a joke," she said firmly, "a stupid and unfunny joke."

"I work here," Shikamaru confessed apologetically, "Tem, I…"

"Don't, don't you call me that!" She said so fiercely she shocked even herself.

Shikamaru fell silent and stood watching her.

"You look nice…You look kind of like your mum," he said finally and Temari wondered if he knew that this comment would break her heart.

"You look different," she admitted, because it was the truth, "are you different?" The question was a trap and it wasn't a trap, it made sense to ask and it didn't. Temari just needed to know.

"Yes and no," Shikamaru nodded slowly, bracing himself on one of the boxes of produce. "I'm not as angry, not so feckless…" He said quietly and Temari inhaled sharply.

"And TenTen, do you still speak to her?" She watched as he physically cringed, like she'd reached out and slapped him – she had once, a long time ago, but they were past that now.

"Not since," he shook his head and then frowned, "and you, are you different?"

"Do you mean am I still a 'switched-off ice bitch'? I dunno, you tell me," Temari's voice shook and she hated herself for it. She watched Shikamaru's Adam's-Apple slide as he swallowed hard.

"When I said that, I didn't know…"

"That my brother might be dying?" She cut in.

The colour left Shikamaru's face and he swayed every so slightly, grasping the box for support.

"Gaara's…What?"

"Oh, you didn't know," she know she was being cruel using her brother's illness like this, but she suddenly didn't care. Shikamaru wasn't the one booked in to have his kidney's tested to see if he was a match for the transplant _, she was_. "He's got systemic lupus erythematosus, he needs a kidney…Maybe my kidney," she explained and Shikamaru looked horrified.

"Isn't that really, really risky?"

"Mum's dead, we don't need another one of us dying," she retorted bluntly; it wasn't much of an answer.

They stood in silence for a moment and when it became too much to bear, Temari began to turn away.

"Wait," Shikamaru said quickly, sounding desperate. She waited, feeling stupid. "If you can't forgive me, if we can't go back…Then just let me be your friend again, please," he sounded so frantic that Temari thought she might snap in two right there.

Instead she said:

"Try harder."

* * *

 **Ealing Outskirts**

Sasuke drew his hood tightly around his face and quickened his pace.

 _Don't let me be seen, don't let me be recognised._

He chanted the silent prayer to himself over and over. It wasn't long though before he was out of central Ealing and pacing down the car-free road. He stopped at a set of traffic lights and took out his phone: this was the meeting place.

He had three texts. One from the person he was meeting telling him they were running behind time. One from Kiba asking if he wanted to go dog walking in the morning. And one from Naruto, which was a picture of some lilies on a gravestone with the caption: 'these the ones you were after?' Sasuke smiled stupidly to himself and sent back: 'you're incorrigible.'

 _What was he doing? What were they doing, more importantly?_

Sasuke was no angel, you didn't end up at his lot in life without sharing a few beds. However, this kind of chaste, pure sweet-talk was utterly alien to him. Even stranger was the concept of performing the action with another boy. When he thought about it, it felt weird and confusing. When he was confronted with Naruto however, his brain seemed to fall out of his ear and all sense of rhyme and reason went with the traitor. It was like he couldn't help himself.

'So encourage me…' Naruto sent back and Sasuke bit his lip hard, his throat going dry. There were so many things he wanted to say and so few things he should say…

"Evening," Sasuke glanced up and saw Orochimaru coming towards him from across the road.

"Yo."

Orochimaru wasn't alone, he had Mitsuki traipsing along in toe. The child was dressed in his pyjamas and wellingtons, looking like he'd just been shaken awake.

"I had to bring Mitsuki," Orochimaru explained when he saw Sasuke frowning. "Nobody in the condo is in a fit state, and we had a break in recently, can't risk him being used as leverage." Orochimaru shook his head and Sasuke didn't try to mask how appalled he felt. "So, what's this info you've got for me, it better be good."

"It is, trust me."

* * *

 **Valley of The End Park**

They sat in the unloved park, facing one another from across either side of a picnic bench. Mitsuki lay curled up on the table-top, fast asleep.

"So?" Orochimaru pressed, looking unfriendly as he placed his phone on the table between them. The device buzzed and whirred continuously.

"It's about your new runner, the one you sent me to meet at the Hokage Rock Inn just before I lost my job at Green Banks; Neji Hyuga" Orochimaru frowned, folding his long fingers beneath his chin.

"The kid's shifted loads of the Fentanyl," he murmured.

"Yeah well, his dad's a D.I, and a well known one at that," Sasuke hissed leaning forwards. At this pronouncement, Orochimaru's face went cold and sour.

"I see."

"His dad is Detective Inspector Hyuga and he does press interviews, you wanna steer well clear of that," Sasuke advised in an undertone, "you cannot trust the feds, you told me that." Orochimaru met Sasuke's gaze and took a ponderous moment to survey him.

"I did, didn't I?" He murmured, "how did you find all of this out?"

Sasuke drew back and looked away from his boss.

"I…I saw him on the news and recognised him." It was a lie that stood to lose him a lot if he was found out, but he couldn't risk dragging Naruto into this world.

"Really?" Orochimaru looked distracted.

"Sack the kid," Sasuke advised, "don't do any more, just sack him."

"I could." Sasuke knew that meant Orochimaru had other ideas for Neji.

At that moment, a text caught Orochimaru's attention and he swivelled his smart phone towards him. Sasuke waited patiently, watching the mosquitoes swoop and dive around their heads, drawn by their pulses. Mitsuki slept on, blissfully unaware of the deals and schemes formulating around him – or perhaps they did permeate him and Sasuke and Orochimaru were the unaware ones.

"Shit," Orochimaru hissed in an undertone and Sasuke glanced up. "Sasuke, how much of that Fentanyl have you shifted?" He asked looking sharp.

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, feeling the splinters of the picnic bench grazing against his thighs.

"I haven't, yet," he confessed.

"You need to sell it – quick, I don't care where it ends up, just shift it," Orochimaru was already getting to his feet looking troubled.

"But…"

"Just shift it, Sasuke! I'll deal with Neji."

* * *

 **The Hokage Rock Inn**

By the time Sasuke made it back to The Hokage Rock Inn, the moon was high, and his mood was low. He gnawed on his headphone's wire obsessing over the text Orochimaru had received. What had it said? What had spooked him like that? Who had sold him the Fentanyl?

He let himself in through the pub's backdoor and as he made to take his shoes off, something drove itself hard into his body.

"Jesus! You're back!" Naruto gasped, clutching onto Sasuke.

"You what?" Sasuke choked, reeling at the abrupt embrace.

"Why didn't you answer your goddamn phone!?" Naruto gave him a shake and Sasuke's breathing hitched.

"What?"

"I've been calling and calling you! Going out of my fucking mind you prick!" Naruto leant away but he didn't fully release Sasuke. Naruto's eyes were brimming with panic, hurt, and fury. The emotions were so raw and tangible Sasuke could nearly taste them.

"Explain," Sasuke suggested and Naruto's face twitched.

"You haven't seen the news?" Sasuke shook his head, "someone's dead, Sasuke; they took a toxic high and died. _I thought_ …" Sasuke already knew what Naruto thought.

"It wasn't me," Sasuke assured, "see, I'm fine," he pressed Naruto's hand to his chest where his heart beat beneath. "I haven't taken _anything_."

Though Naruto's face cleared with every passing beat of Sasuke's heart, Sasuke's mind was racing. Suddenly, he had an idea what that text to Orochimaru might have said and why he was so keen for Sasuke to shift the Fentanyl…

* * *

Ooooooh dun dun dun... xxx


	7. Chapter 7: Diazepam

**Errmeergaaahd! Chapter 7!**

The Suburban-Spritian chapter traditionally associated with all the **_tension..._**

Ha ha ha...I hope you guys enjoy this!

Please review and follow, much love xxx

* * *

 _'And at once I knew I was not magnificent'_

 _Bon Iver, Holocene._

 ** _The Hokage Rock Inn_**

Naruto climbed the staircase, trying not to spill the mug of PG Tips he was carrying as he came across household obstacles such as Kurama yowling for a third breakfast and Taka guarding the landing. He hammered on Sasuke's bedroom door and when he received no response, he barged right in.

"Morning!" He shouted in his most obnoxious voice.

Sasuke was still in bed, his duvet half thrown off him, his body drawn up into a messy huddle. He groaned at the sound of Naruto's voice and spat a furious curse word.

"Mate, it's like eleven 'o' clock," Naruto announced, setting down the mug of tea and jumping onto the bed with Sasuke who released a dramatic wail. "Get your tragic self out of this pit."

"It's my day off," Sasuke retorted sleepily, twisting his face into his pillow.

Naruto was struck by just how much neck Sasuke had, it was all snowy and soft, a little bit dewy from sleep.

"Your day off work or life?" Naruto retorted and Sasuke grumbled.

"What life?"

"Don't be such a miserable sort, I brought you a tea," Naruto crossed his ankles on Sasuke's back and Sasuke opened one aphotic eye.

"I bet you didn't bring any biscuits," he muttered.

"Chocolate bourbons aren't for thoughtless cocks who don't text their best friend when there's a local crisis," Naruto reminded.

"Ha ha," Sasuke retorted dryly and then sighed heavily.

"Come on, I thought we could do something today," Naruto suggested and Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at him. He looked so different just roused from sleep: he looked quieter and gentler.

"What did you have in mind oh rep of Ealing?" Sasuke queried and Naruto grinned.

"Cinema?" He suggested and Sasuke looked shifty.

"Can't," he said sounding apologetic. "I'm banned from the multiplex…For misusing their toilets, it was a whole thing," he shrugged it off, but Naruto wished he hadn't mentioned it.

"I wasn't talking about the multiplex," Naruto smiled mischievously. "There's an open-air cinema in Kannabi Bridge Common down in Chiswick…We could drive down, check it out," Naruto suggested hopefully.

Sasuke fixed him with an appraising stare for a moment and then dropped his head back on his pillow.

"Cool, give me ten more minutes though," he smirked.

"You serious, Sasuke!? I made you tea!" Naruto spluttered but Sasuke put a finger to his lips.

" _Shhh_ , I'm sleeping," and he kicked aside the duvet to free up a space for Naruto. "You really need to embrace the joy of doing fuck all, dude." Sasuke murmured.

With a deep breath Naruto lay down in the free space, with a similar sensation to diving into the deep end of a swimming pool. The sheets were hot and balmy from Sasuke's body heat, and the cotton was candied with his sugary fragrance. Naruto looked into Sasuke's peaceful face, his own heart dancing in his throat. Sasuke was sweet and soft, nuzzling the lavender bed sheets.

Sweet, soft, and quiet…

* * *

 _ **Kannabi Bridge Common**_

"So many people," Sasuke commented.

He was sat on the hood of Naruto's Orange Crush Jeep Wrangler, watching the crowds of people flock in the dusky light. Naruto smiled and tossed him a Fosters, which he caught with ease.

"God's own living room," Naruto jested, sweeping an arm around the field which chirped with the sound of crickets and blackbirds.

"Atheist," Sasuke shrugged, cracking his can.

"Polite agnostic," Naruto nodded, mimicking Sasuke and joined him on the Wrangler's hood.

The Common wasn't anything like Naka Shrine Country Park. There weren't any tidily kept rose beds or wisteria awnings; this field had been left to go wild. The grass came past Naruto's knees. The unkempt green was spotted with mauve corncockles, lurid thrifts, and spiny teasels. Everything was moving, whether it be with the brisk December breeze, or the small paws of nature that roamed unseen. A screen had been erected in the centre of the field along with a few food trucks and beer vendors; most people however, like Sasuke and Naruto, had bought their own food and drink.

"Still wish you were in bed?" Naruto smirked at Sasuke as he reclined on the windscreen of his Jeep.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and grinned, resting his teeth on the lip of his can.

"Fine, I concede, you win," Sasuke sighed and Naruto gave a cheer which was so loud it sent a few collar doves panicking from the sycamore tree they'd been drowsing in.

* * *

As they watched the film, Naruto watched Sasuke. He watched the way he positioned his body to get comfortable: laying back, with his chin tilted towards his left shoulder. He watched the way Sasuke responded when the film made him jump: he flinched and clenched his fists, his breathing escalating. He watched how Sasuke was so unaware of his own form: twining his fingers together lazily, nibbling his lip, and touching his track marks self-consciously. He watched as Sasuke's attention strayed from the film: a child began to holler – not the tears of a hurt child, a child throwing a tantrum. Naruto observed as Sasuke gazed at the small boy, whose mother sought to placate him with a chocolate bar.

"What's her name?" Naruto asked quietly, rolling onto his side to face Sasuke.

"Whose?" Sasuke replied, playing dumb and because he was playing dumb Naruto didn't entertain the question. After some moments pause Sasuke replied, "Sarada," so quiet that his voice was almost lost on the breeze.

"That's a nice name," Naruto acknowledged and Sasuke nodded jerkily.

"Her mum named her."

There it was, the 'M' word.

"Is that where she is, with her mum?" Naruto pressed and noticed Sasuke tense up ever so slightly.

"No," he said stiffly. "Her mum only knew Sarada for a few weeks," Sasuke confessed. At Naruto's confused look Sasuke pursed his lips, and with an unreadable expression said, "her mum's dead."

Naruto reeled, nearly sliding off the Jeep's bonnet with the force of his horror.

" _She died_?" Naruto whispered, appalled.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, a look of ancient sadness toying with his features and nodded.

"It happens," he murmured softly.

Naruto knew that people died, he wasn't an idiot, but the reality of young people expiring before they'd truly begun…

"How?" He asked hoarsely, and his throat felt raw.

Sasuke shrugged and looked away.

"Does it matter? People die, Naruto, it's a tragic factor of our mortality," Sasuke muttered, deliberately avoiding Naruto's eye.

"They don't just die," Naruto insisted.

Sasuke sat up, slamming his palms on the Jeep's hood, his handsome face looked sharp.

"For fuck's sake," he snapped, "if you must know she was born with a tracheoesophageal fistula and then when we were about fourteen a congenital heart defect unveiled itself, doctors called it VACTERL association. Then when she was a few months pregnant she caught rubella, which just gave way to a whole host of problems…Then when Sarada was three weeks old…Sakura's heart just failed…" Sasuke looked stunned as he spoke, like he still couldn't quite believe the memory.

"Sakura," Naruto echoed, "was that…"

"Her name? Yeah," Sasuke gazed out across the field.

Moths had begun to gather in the film's projector, casting huge bat-like shadows all over the screen.

"Were you…Close?" Naruto struggled to phrase the question, and obviously he hadn't succeeded in his attempts at delicacy because Sasuke whipped around looking affronted.

"Well, we had a baby, so clearly."

"I didn't mean…"

"What did you mean?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow looking nettled, "you wanna know how close we were? I loved the girl, thought I'd marry her, have the big fat suburban life…Then she died, and then my parents took our daughter away from me and put her in care," Sasuke clapped his hands together looking abruptly distraught.

"What?"

"Yeah; after Sakura died, in swooped mum and dad, they had my baby taken away and now I have no idea where she is," Sasuke laughed bitterly and his eyes shone unnaturally. "She could be anywhere, every time I see a kid with it's family I'm like: _is that her?_ Because she'd be four by now." Sasuke explained, his hands shaking.

"Did you look for her?" Naruto asked and Sasuke took an unsteady breath.

"I tried, that's why I left Kilkenny…But I got found before I could find her," he whispered to his trembling fingertips.

"By who?" Naruto asked sitting up, "Who found you?"

But Sasuke was shaking his head and sliding off the Jeep's bonnet.

"No one," he muttered.

"Wait – stop," Naruto slid off the bonnet and grabbed Sasuke's wrist.

Sasuke looked taken aback by the sudden contact and froze where he stood. Naruto considered his fingers wringed around Sasuke's bony wrist and slid his palm up until their pulses met and fingers fell into place.

"I shouldn't have asked all of that shit, sorry," he apologised, "I just…I just wanna know you, ya'know?" Naruto frowned as he spoke, "everything. The bad, the good, the convoluted parts of your history, the parts where you used to sing in your bedroom."

"I never sang in my bedroom," Sasuke rebuffed, but a smile was threatening his lips.

"What did you do then?" Naruto queried, holding their joined hands at his solar plexus. Sasuke looked thoughtful.

"I had a year long battle with a Rubik's Cube when I was eleven," he offered looking remarkably innocent and Naruto let out a chuckle.

"No way – see I just wanna know that shit," Naruto grinned and Sasuke looked perplexed.

"You wanna know about my collection of ultra-retro Beanie Babies?"

"Oh My God, yes."

* * *

"Your turn: tell me some embarrassing shit," Sasuke threw a crisp at Naruto's head.

They had completely forgotten the film and sat instead in the back of Naruto's Jeep, a feast of cheap snacks shared between them, piecing timelines of their lives together.

"How embarrassing?" Naruto quizzed and Sasuke grinned wickedly.

"I want clownesque levels of humiliation, I wanna feed off your pain," Sasuke winked and Naruto groaned, casting his mind back.

"Yeah, I've got one," he sighed and Sasuke shuffled forwards. "So, I was like sixteen and I used to have this thing for Temari, right…Anyway, I got a text off her asking me to meet her after P.E which used to be last lesson. So, I go along all pumped, still in my gross gym clothes…" Naruto took a deep breath, "only it wasn't Temari waiting for me, it was her douche older brother, Kankuro." Naruto rolled his eyes and took a resentful bite of a Mars bar. "He locked me in the sports hall overnight, such a dick."

There was a pause and then Sasuke emitted a little giggle which escalated into a full-blown laugh. After a minute he was curled in a ball howling with peels of laughter.

"Shut up," Naruto launched a packet of crisps at Sasuke's head, and Sasuke deflected them.

"Sorry – I didn't know you had a thing for Temari, why don't you go for it, it doesn't look like her and Shikamaru will be getting together any time soon?" Sasuke pointed out.

"Well, firstly, never underestimate Shikamaru, the man's full of tricks. Secondly, I don't think she's my type anymore, like, _at all._ " Naruto mused with a shrug of finality.

"So, what is?" Sasuke asked and his tone was entirely different.

"What's what?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of chocolate.

"Your type?" Sasuke pressed and Naruto definitely wasn't imagining the way in which Sasuke avoided his gaze.

"Why are you asking?"

"You're the one who went on this campaign about unearthing every stone in my life," Sasuke pointed out defensively.

"No, I mean, why are you asking when you already know?"

It was a stupid, risky, crazy, alarming, mad, mad, mad thing to stay. But he said it. He watched Sasuke's face flicker and shock bleed across his attractive features. Then he thought, he'd already taken one stupid, mad, bad risk, why not another? Going up on his knees, Naruto pressed his palm flush on the car window behind Sasuke's head. For a second, he was suspended over Sasuke, staring down into Sasuke's nebulous eyes; all wet and glittery, like pierced blackberry drupelets. Then, Naruto inclined his head forwards and closed the distance between them.

His first thought was: Sasuke knew how to kiss, he must've kissed people before. Sometimes his lips were soft to Naruto's, then firm, and then he grazed his teeth along Naruto's bottom lip which made Naruto gasp. Naruto knotted his free hand in Sasuke's hair, he could feel Sasuke's ribs bowing beneath his they were pressed against one another so closely. He made to coax Sasuke's lips apart, to trace his tongue over Sasuke's teeth…

Sasuke pushed him back roughly.

"Stop," Sasuke barked, panting heavily, "we need to stop."

They looked at each other in the cold light of the December moon. Their clothes were rumbled, their hair wild, and their pupils swollen.

"This…This doesn't happen again. This never happened." Sasuke hissed, his voice firm with an undercurrent of fear…

* * *

 _ **Team 7 Outlet**_

Shikamaru watched as one of Kakashi's weird wares blew bubbles across the shop floor. The glimmering orbs were scintillating as they reflected all of the strobe lighting in the store. He was propping himself on the reception desk, staring out of the door mistily. His boss, Kakashi, was in Munich for the week and without him the store lost almost all of its energy.

The good thing about his boss's absence, was Shikamaru was in control of the Team 7's speaker system for once. Instead of the usual teeth-rattling trance, he played blues legends and hummed along dreamily.

"Haunting," Temari crept up on him making him jump, she gestured to his throat to indicate that she was mocking his lazy humming.

"Hauntingly beautiful," he chuckled watching as she pulled her work's lanyard off.

"I need an hour off," she told him but stopped when she saw that he had his hand out. "What?" She frowned, and he flashed her a crooked grin.

"C'mon?" He flexed his fingers and she raised her blonde eyebrows.

"You want me to dance with you?"

"You told me to try harder," he pointed out.

Temari spluttered, lost for words. She glanced over her shoulder out of the storefront and then back to Shikamaru.

"Jeez man," she sighed, "I guess I still can't resist them feckless and weedy."

She took his hand and they navigated the shop floor to the crooning lull of blues. Sometimes they moved quickly and madly, other times so slowly it was silly, but the whole time they laughed – they truly laughed. As Shikamaru held onto Temari, he was overcome by a barrage of sensations: the awareness of how soft, safe, and blazingly brilliant she felt in his arms even after all the poison they had swapped. Then there was the feeling of regret, _how could they have let this go? How could he have broken this?_

"Why do you need an hour off?" Shikamaru murmured against Temari's ear.

They were swaying beneath the fire escape, the many strobe lights a veritable parade of spotlights.

"Blood tests to see if I'm a match for Gaara," she confessed quietly and Shikamaru leant away, furrowing his brow. "Don't," she shook her head, "I'm fine, it's fine," she promised but Shikamaru was already fumbling with the loop of keys on his belt. "Shikamaru?" She quizzed.

"I'll lock up and come with you – the store's dead without Kakashi Prince of Glam," Shikamaru shrugged and then looked up, "please don't go on your own?"

She surveyed him, her ivy coloured eyes twinkling in the synthetic lambency of the shop. She gave a little shrug, sniffed and nodded.

"Sure, you're buying lunch though," she muttered.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, he would've brought it all to spend one more minute with her…

* * *

BOOHOO...Can you tell I'm bitter because a goose woke me up HONKING outside my window this morning!? I hope you enjoyed...x


End file.
